Bizarrely stricken Audis in the snow this morning.

[MitchT]

Walking to work in the snow this morning I happened upon a silver current shape Audi A4 which was blocking a main road, on a hill, positioned at a virtual right angle to the road with its front end facing the pavement. There wasn't so much snow that it couldn't have been reversed away from the kerb and, even if that had been the case, a few of the many people in cars which had stopped could have helped push it away from the side of the road and position it to continue down the hill. Instead, it was going nowhere and a police van had even positioned itself slightly up the hill from the Audi to block the road completely, like it couldn't be moved any time soon. About an hour after arriving at work a few of my colleagues drifted in and started describing an identical situation, but were refering to a white Audi. When I quizzed them I realised that they seen a different car on a different hill but stuck in exactly the same way. Again, recoverable in the event of the car being driveable, but completely stuck where it was.

Is there some issue with modern Audis that causes the tech to throw its toys out of the pram when in encounters snow? Flappy paddle gearshift maybe going all 'airbus with frozen pitot tubes' when it encounters something its computer can't process?

[KarlMac]

Front biased awd sending power to the rear and catching driver out?

Blingy 18/19 wheels with low profiles on completely unsuitable? Probably a mismatch if brands.

More likely, idiot thinks 'quatttro' and those ads from last year mean you can blast around at 40 with a disregard for basic physics.

[Dr Interceptor]

Audi running on summer tyres + shiny new car is invincible + can't drive in the snow = stuck.

[Crusoe]

Auto, high torque low down the rev range + fwd + wide summer tyres = rubbish in snow. Lots of fwd A5s with the small petrol turbo stuck.

[adam85]

MitchT said:

Is there some issue with modern Audis?

Yes, They're driven by knobbers.

[Impasse]

And then there's the possibility that there's no one around who knows how to attach the tow hook.

[Hainey]

MitchT said:

Walking to work in the snow this morning I happened upon a silver current shape Audi A4 which was blocking a main road, on a hill, positioned at a virtual right angle to the road with its front end facing the pavement. There wasn't so much snow that it couldn't have been reversed away from the kerb and, even if that had been the case, a few of the many people in cars which had stopped could have helped push it away from the side of the road and position it to continue down the hill. Instead, it was going nowhere and a police van had even positioned itself slightly up the hill from the Audi to block the road completely, like it couldn't be moved any time soon. About an hour after arriving at work a few of my colleagues drifted in and started describing an identical situation, but were refering to a white Audi. When I quizzed them I realised that they seen a different car on a different hill but stuck in exactly the same way. Again, recoverable in the event of the car being driveable, but completely stuck where it was.

Is there some issue with modern Audis that causes the tech to throw its toys out of the pram when in encounters snow? Flappy paddle gearshift maybe going all 'airbus with frozen pitot tubes' when it encounters something its computer can't process?

At least in the French wonder I can fly it in alternate law if the computer throws a double six, or if the pitots ice you have the master instrument to go by if not the full sacred six.

I think the problem with modern Audi's is more usually the fleshy computer sat behind the wheel. The fact it's the company car of choice for doorknob sellers everywhere means that the skill level displayed can be more than a little lacking at times. Couple that with daft sized wheels and elastic band profiles, and it's never going to end well.

[V88Dicky]

Dr Interceptor said:

Audi running on summer tyres + shiny new car is invincible + can't drive in the snow = stuck.

This^^^^

And quite likely a FWD version running massive summer tyres with a linear tread pattern like this;

[Europa1]

adam85 said:

MitchT said:

Is there some issue with modern Audis?

Yes, They're driven by knobbers.

thanks for that, brightened up my lunchtime!

[MitchT]

All of the above makes sense, of course, but in the case of the one I saw the police had blocked the road like there was a more fundamental issue than one that a bit of muscle could solve in a minute or two. It was more like the whole car had gone into lockdown and was immovable, such that the police had to close the road.

[rallycross]

I would guess it's the stupid over sized wheels with mega low profile summer rubber = no grip made worse by auto gearbox and nasty diesel delivering a huge lump of torque from low reva and driven by half witted fools who wouldn't know how to drive to the conditions.

[J8 SVG]

V88Dicky said:

This^^^^

And quite likely a FWD version running massive summer tyres with a linear tread pattern like this;

I've never worried about the snow but it's just struck me that I have proper 'sport' tyres this year.. how poorly do we think a clio with these on would be?



I got about perfectly well with a megane fitted with conti sport 2's in 2009/10 (bar one hill that needed 3 attempts with longer and longer run ups), will these be any worse than that?

Khumo M&S tyres were great two years ago.

[Dannbodge]

adam85 said:

MitchT said:

Is there some issue with modern Audis?

Yes, They're driven by knobbers.

[Dr Interceptor]

I suppose they could have ttted the kerb and broken a drive shaft or joint rendering the car immobile.

[LordHaveMurci]

adam85 said:

MitchT said:

Is there some issue with modern Audis?

Yes, They're driven by knobbers.

[V88Dicky]

J8 SVG said:

I've never worried about the snow but it's just struck me that I have proper 'sport' tyres this year.. how poorly do we think a clio with these on would be?



I got about perfectly well with a megane fitted with conti sport 2's in 2009/10 (bar one hill that needed 3 attempts with longer and longer run ups), will these be any worse than that?

Khumo M&S tyres were great two years ago.

Hard to say really, the Clio's lightness may help a little. My Dad had an Ibiza a few years ago with quite fat Continentals on it from new, and it couldn't even manage the road camber from kerb to middle of the street outside my house in a bad winter a few years ago.

[marksx]

MitchT said:

Is there some issue with modern Audis

Many. But probably nothing that directly contributes to people being incapable of driving in a dusting of snow.

[thatdude]

Tyres not suited to the conditions and less-than-gentle inputs from the driver

[Riley Blue]

I've just spent an hilarious lunchtime watching students from a nearby college trying to drive in the snow. Probably one in ten had any idea of the right technique - not one of them was in an Audi

[jimjim150]

adam85 said:

MitchT said:

Is there some issue with modern Audis?

Yes, They're driven by knobbers.

Ha! This got a chuckle.